WARM UP 2014: DESIGN PLAYGROUND

Every summer, in addition to the convergence of exhibitions, dance troupes, music performances, and the Young Architects Program installation, we are thrilled that design has become an integral part of Saturdays at Warm Up. For the past four seasons, Warm Up has invited local, emerging artists to envision and realize pop-up performance environments for our stage set, which rotate every weekend. This year Chen Chen & Kai Williams (@chenandkai), CONFETTISYSTEM (@confettisystem), Fort Makers (@fortmakers), Fort Standard (@fort_standard), Nightwood (@nightwoodny), and The Principals (@the_principals) each present their own take on summer vibes with installations that give each studio the opportunity to realize a large-scale and event-specific creation. From an abstract, Memphis design-inspired nautical pillow forest (Fort Makers); to a glam-rock, metallic take on utilitarian rescue blankets (CONFETTISYSTEM); to sculptural forms made from industrial fans, dry ice, and tetrahedron-shaped origami forms inspired by 1950s Swedish food packaging; to a backdrop made entirely by a community weaving project using recycled materials (Nightwood); to a sea of neon inflatables (Fort Standard); to a landscape of kinetic forms inspired by prosthetic technology used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis that expand and contract in response to sound waves (The Principals), all of our designers each have a highly specific and dynamic vision for their contribution.

Each artist collective/design studio operates its own commercial practice, which informs and inspires their work for Warm Up, and for the first time this summer, we are also including these items in our new Weekend Shop, a retail space organized in collaboration with Artbook to focus on the art, objects, and music made by Warm Up stage artists and performers. The store features a large selection of vinyl, CD, and cassettes, as well as tabletop and interior objects, games, jewelry, and other beautiful and inventive products. For instance, CONFETTISYSTEM has made a Warm Up–exclusive product for the store, Party Packs inspired by bodega snack displays. In addition, the store features a listening and music-making station with an array of synthesizers and samplers, organized by CTRL Brooklyn, allowing visitors to not just enjoy the sounds of Warm Up, but to learn how to make them.

We are lucky to be working this year with Instagram to make the most of these visual, kinetic elements of Warm Up, and our designers have risen to the challenge. They’ve created spectacles that amplify the cadence of the day, providing playful surprises that allow the crowd to physically interact with the designs, making the stage not just something for the musicians to inhabit, but something that expands outward to the audience (and upwards, since many pieces, like beach balls and confetti-filled piñatas, are launched, projectile-style, off of the roof).

With four Saturdays left, come revel in Warm Up’s design playground!

The Warm Up stages are realized in collaboration with Cecelia Thornton-Alson and Gabriela Scopazzi, with support from our installation team Thomas Barger, Maya Berrol-Young, Vanessa Castro, and Paul McAdory.

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